What is thermoluminescence dating

, in which figures in solar years (often with some necessary margin of error) can be applied to a particular event.

Unless tied to historical records, dating by archaeological methods can only be relative -- such as stratigraphy, typology, , fluorine and nitrogen test, and radiometric assay.

A sequential ordering that places cultural entities in temporal, and often spatial, distribution.This produces electrons and other charge-carriers (holes) which become caught in traps in the crystal lattice.Heating of the pottery causes the electrons and holes to be released from the traps, and they recombine in the form of thermoluminescence.SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: thermoluminescence dating, thermoluminescent dating; TLCATEGORY: technique DEFINITION: Chronometric method of dating ceramic materials by measuring the stored energy created when they were first fired.It is based on the principle that ceramic material, like other crystalline non-conducting solids, contains small amounts of radioactive impurities such as potassium, uranium, and thorium, which emit alpha and beta particles and gamma rays causing ionizing radiation.There is also a nearby Mesolithic site with evidence of flintknapping.